Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.b71b0739r&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #B71B-0739
Mathematics
Logic
0400 Biogeosciences, 1527 Paleomagnetism Applied To Geologic Processes, 8121 Dynamics, Convection Currents And Mantle Plumes, 8125 Evolution Of The Earth, 8450 Planetary Volcanism (5480)
Scientific paper
We review available data constraining the extent, volume, age and duration of all main continental flood basalts (CFB or traps) and oceanic large igneous provinces (LIP), going from the smallest Columbia flood basalts at ~ 16 Ma to the as yet ill known remnants of a possible trap at ~ 360 Ma in eastern Siberia. The 14 traps (CFB and LIP) reviewed form a rather unimodal distribution with an original modal volume on the order of 2.5 Mkm3. Most provinces agree with a rather simple first order model in which volcanism may last on the order of 10 Ma, often results in continental breakup, but where most of the volume (say on the order of 2/3rds) is erupted in about 1 Ma or sometimes less. This makes CFB/LIP major geodynamic events, with fluxes exceeding the total output of present day hotspots and possibly matching over shorter times scales the entire crustal production of mid-ocean ridges. The proposed correlation between trap ages and ages of a number of geological events, including extinctions and oceanic anoxia, is found to have improved steadily as more data became available, to the point that the list of trap ages may form much of the underlying structure of the geological time scale. The five largest mass extinctions in the last 260 Ma coincide (to the best resolution available) with five traps, making a causal connection between the two, through some form of catastrophic climatic perturbations, more than likely. Improvement by an order of magnitude in resolution of radiochronological or other dating techniques is of paramount importance to constrain in detail the flux history and differences between the physical, chemical and environmental characteristics of the various provinces.
Courtillot Vincent E.
Renne Paul R.
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